Ohio Prosecutors Seeking Life Without Parole Instead of Death Penalty

Ohio pros­e­cu­tors are tak­ing advan­tage of their new option of life with­out parole, seek­ing it much more often than the death penal­ty. The life sen­tence with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole used to only be an option for jurors weigh­ing an alter­na­tive to a death sen­tence. ​“Prosecutors around Ohio, cit­ing the abil­i­ty to pur­sue harsh pun­ish­ment with­out going through the com­pli­ca­tion and expense of a death penal­ty case are start­ing to take advan­tage of the 2005 law,” and the ​“num­ber of death penal­ty indict­ments sought statewide dropped 32 per­cent from 2004 to 2007.” Clermont County Prosecutor Don White explained, ​“Life with­out parole means it’s over. The only way they’ll get out is in a pine box or if the gov­er­nor lets them out.” According to the Associated Press, ​“A death penal­ty tri­al can eas­i­ly top $100,00 for a coun­ty as extra staff, inves­ti­ga­tors and psy­cho­log­i­cal experts are hired by the defense and prosecutors…[and] can drain the annu­al bud­gets of small­er coun­ties.” North Carolina had recent­ly added the option of life with­out parole to pros­e­cu­tors and death sen­tences there have dropped from 14 in 2001 to 3 in 2007. Wake County, North Carolina pros­e­cu­tor Colon Willoughby explained, ​“Under the old law, I think pros­e­cu­tors were some­times forced to try cas­es cap­i­tal­ly in order to be able to get a life sen­tence, know­ing that there was very lit­tle chance a jury would ren­der a sen­tence of death.” He added that the new option allows for quick jus­tice that saves mon­ey and still pro­tects cit­i­zens. Texas, the state that often exe­cutes more offend­ers than all oth­er states com­bined, only recent­ly put life with­out parole on its books. But, it only per­mits it as an option in cas­es where the pros­e­cu­tor seeks the death penal­ty. The change in Ohio law was inspired by a mur­der victim’s mother’s advo­ca­cy for stiffer non-death sen­tence options.

(A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio pros­e­cu­tors using new life with­out parole option,” Akron Beacon Journal, June 22, 2008).

See Costs and Life Without Parole.